Carousel Project

The Carousel Project is a Devon-based social enterprise. We specialise in bringing creative learning, new experiences and outdoor adventure to children, young people, and their families, in non-formal learning environments.

Working creatively together, children, young people and their families can set their imaginations free, unlocking a brand new world of open-ended discovery in which to thrive and achieve their full potential.

Our sessions & events are run by talented, experienced community artists and heritage educators. We aim to inspire families to get more involved in the arts, the outdoors, the environment and their locality.

The project will look at features in the landscape of the Killerton estate, focusing on the traditionally managed orchards, the Iron Age site of Dolbury Hillfort, and Killerton gardens with its collection of plants and trees from around the world. All three sites reveal important and exciting stories about the local heritage and are examples of how the landscape has been shaped by people in the past. The sites will be explored in three six week projects, one per term, through site visits, workshops, living history activities and events.

Week 1 - BioBlitz

Have you ever taken a moment to think about what makes an orchard such a special place?

Yes it is full of beautiful fruit trees which provide us with delicious things to eat and drink, but have you ever taken a closer look, down low or up high.

Year 2 did exactly that on their first session at Sparrow Park Orchard, Killerton.

We worked together to complete our very own BioBlitz. searching all over the orchard to find as many varieties of plants, trees, birds, mini-beasts and more. We found many species familiar to us but also discovered some more unusual varieties too. Have you ever heard of a two-spotted ladybird or a harvestman?

Have you ever noticed the rainbow of colour that lurks within an orchard? Or stood still to listen to a beautiful bird song? Using our eyes, ears and sense of touch we explored the orchard for colours, textures and sounds. Working in groups to create a wonderful web of life to showcase all the textures and colours we had found.

We made leaf rubbings and collaged mini beasts to make our 3D sculpture come to life and completed sound walks to find a wealth of sounds to record.

Week 3 - Maps Over Time

Imagine what life was like over 100 years ago and how many things have changed over that period of time. Year 2 children looked at how Killerton has evolved since 1890 by exploring historic maps and comparing with present day.

We discovered how the landscape has changed and produced a large scale image map to depict those changes for the house, stables, walled garden and orchard.

Week 5 - Clyst Mill

Leading on from the work in week 3, where we looked at the landscape of Killerton and how it has changed, this session focused on Clyst Mill. We thought about how the mill was used and how the landscape provided for all the mills needs: water from the river, wheat from the fields and fruit from the orchard. Children worked collaboratively to produce beautiful 'wheels' depicting all the landscape features whilst thinking about colour, texture and pattern. They also got to explore inside the mill and discover how it works and why it was used.